SEARCHENGINES
Unconfirmed Google Search Algorithm Ranking Update On October 25
I am seeing signs of another possible Google Search ranking algorithm update today that kicked off last night into today (October 24 and October 25). This is an unconfirmed update, Google has not announced any official update yet but maybe this is the first set of tremors post the completion of the Google October 2023 core update and spam update?
I am currently watching a large spike in chatter without the SEO community as of this morning. Generally that chatter will continue to increase as SEOs in the West wake up and check their analytics and tracking tools.
Plus, some of the automated Google tracking tools are showing volatility already. I assume by tomorrow and later today, the tools that are not showing the search result volatility will see it then.
Here is what I am seeing.
Tracking Tools On October 25, 2023 Unconfirmed Google Update
Here is what the automated tracking tools show for October 25, 2023 iuncofnriemd Google update over the two-week or so period.
SEO Community Chatter
Here is some of the chatter from within the SEO community around this unconfirmed update. I am getting these comments from WebmasterWorld and the comments on this site:
Was there a SERP update recently? The reason I ask is because my traffic has jumped about 23%. However, I don’t know of any updates.
I can answer my own question, the answer was 19.00 UK time yesterday. Traffic was completely normal and then almost off the edge of the cliff and back to the levels seen duing the updates.
UK. big shuffling today.
UAE: I saw a slight drop in my keywords…
Something is definitely happening for the past 2 days.
2 days back, I reported traffic was a bit low but my conversions improved.
Yesterday, not a single conversion from Google’s traffic while traffic became even lower than before (50% difference).
Did a quick check on my keyword rankings and they’re fluctuating crazily, especially any product or buyer-intent keywords. You all may want to check it out too.
I reported yesterday a 3x boost in traffic before noon. It declined rapidly after that (to well below normal), so I can only assume they were then pushing that traffic boost to other sites at my expense.
you’re right about something happening. just checked the semrush sensor and it’s at 8.0. and your prediction makes sense. these things always start well before they announce.
agree. Quick one: did ytd spike you seen translate into conversions as well, and if the trend is keeping for today ref. traffic? Asking as I think for couple of business we run today is settling to normal again, and conversions for ytd though traffic was up nicely were not following the trend with traffic?
Traffic is so low today, Google engineers trying so hard to get 1% of the traffic they left from bloggers and publishers and turning all the traffic to big companies and quora reddit.
Early on yesterday we had a very high rate of conversions. Far more (3X) than I would usually expect. Later on in the day they really dropped off (below normal). Same low traffic/conversions today.
@rustybrick Are you getting any reporting from people seeing rankings return then leave repeatedly over the last few weeks? We are seeing this.
— Donna Rougeau (@donnathecoach) October 25, 2023
Are you noticing any reversals or changes in your Google search rankings since yesterday?
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
SEARCHENGINES
Google Needs Very Few Links To Rank Pages; Links Are Less Important
Gary Illyes from Google spoke at the SERP Conf on Friday and he said what he said numerous times before, that Google values links a lot less today than it did in the past. He added that Google Search “needs very few links to rank pages.”
Gary reportedly said, “We need very few links to rank pages… Over the years we’ve made links less important.”
I am quoting Patrick Stox who is quoting what he heard Gary say on stage at the event. Here is Patrick’s post where Gary did a rare reply:
I shouldn’t have said that… I definitely shouldn’t have said that
— Gary 鯨理/경리 Illyes (so official, trust me) (@methode) April 19, 2024
Gary said this a year ago, also in 2022 and other times as well. We previously covered that Google said links would likely become even less important in the future. And even Matt Cutts, the former Googler, said something similar about eight years ago and the truth is, links are weighted a lot less than it was eight years ago and that trend continues. A couple of years ago, Google said links are not the most important Google search ranking factor.
Of course, many SEOs think Google lies about this.
Judith Lewis interviewed Gary Illyes at the SERP Conf this past Friday.
SEARCHENGINES
Google Core Update Flux, AdSense Ad Intent, California Link Tax & More
For the original iTunes version, click here.
The Google March 2024 core update is still rolling out, almost 6 weeks now, and we saw two shifts of ranking volatility, both mid-week and the weekend before. Google’s Danny Sullivan went on the defensive on search quality and forum listings in the search results. Google’s site reputation abuse spam policy will be fought both algorithmically and through manual actions. Google responded to The Verge mocking its search rankings over best printer. Google Search Console has a new unused ownership tokens page. Some sites may see the Google Indexing API work for a limited time on unsupported content types. And having two sites won’t result in your sites search ranking decline. BingBot now fully supports Brotli compression and will test Zstd compression soon. Google Search is testing thumbs-up and down buttons for product carousels. Google is testing new sitelinks designs. Google Notes on Search may not go away in May. Google Maps no longer supports draft reviews. Google Maps released a bunch of new maps, directions, travel and EV features. Google Ads Demand Gen campaigns now support AI image generation. Google Ads is testing a similar product carousel. Google Ads reminds advertisers that ad customizers are going away. Google Ads is testing a new horizontal ad card format. Google AdSense has these new ad intent formats. Google AdSense publishers are reporting lower RPM earnings since mid-February. Google threatens to drop links to California news publishers amongst link tax bill. That was the search news this week at the Search Engine Roundtable.
SPONSOR: Wix Studio lets digital marketing agencies get all of the benefits Wix has to offer from best-in-class SEO capabilities to 99% up-time with the added value of an extensive client and team management system baked right into the platform.
Make sure to subscribe to our video feed or subscribe directly on iTunes, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or your favorite podcast player to be notified of these updates and download the video in the background. Here is the YouTube version of the feed:
Search Topics of Discussion:
Please do subscribe on YouTube or subscribe via iTunes or on your favorite RSS reader. Don’t forget to comment below with the right answer and good luck!
SEARCHENGINES
Daily Search Forum Recap: April 19, 2024
Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web.
Google is testing more ad formats for its search ads. BingBot is testing new compression methods. Google said it is unlikely your rankings would drop just because you have two or more sites. Google says the indexing API might work for unsupported formats. Google said hyphenated domains are not bad by themselves. And I posted the weekly SEO video recap.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
-
Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google Core Update Flux, AdSense Ad Intent, California Link Tax & More
The Google March 2024 core update is still rolling out, almost 6 weeks now, and we saw two shifts of ranking volatility, both mid-week and the weekend before. Google’s Danny Sullivan went on the defensive on search quality and forum listings… -
Google Tests More Google Ad Card Formats
Google is testing another ad format, another card like format, for its search ads. We previously saw the vertical and tall ad cards, then the carousel horizontal card format and now here are just plain horizontal ad cards. -
Google: It’s Unlikely Your Rankings Dropped Because You Have Two Websites
Google was asked if having two websites and Google finding out about them would cause the websites to drop in rankings. John Mueller from Google said that is “not likely,” adding that many people have several websites and that is fine. -
Google: Indexing API May Work For Unsupported Content But…
Gary Illyes from Google said in the recent Google SEO office hours the Google Indexing API may work for unsupported content formats, but that you shouldn’t be “surprised if suddenly it stopped working for unsupported verticals overnight.” -
Google: Are Hyphenated Domains Are Bad For Google Ranking?
The topic of using hyphens in domain names is one of the oldest SEO topics we have in this space. Heck, in 2004, SEOs said there was a specific Google ranking algorithm that filtered out domains with hyphens in them (Google did not by the way). -
Bingbot To Test Zstd Compression After Fully Gaining Full Brotli Compression
Fabrice Canel from Microsoft announced that BingBot now fully supports Brotli compression and will soon be testing zstd Zstandard compression, a lossless data compression, for its crawler. -
Google Cloud Socks
Google loves to print socks for its various swag and here are two variations of socks from the Google Cloud team. I like the white socks because they look more retro but here are nicer versions as well.
Other Great Search Threads:
- From a practical POV, you can specify your prices using structured data on the page, with a merchant center feed (which many ecommerce systems can make for you) or manually in merchant center., John Mueller on X
- I passed this on. I don’t think there’s anything special going on here, but the feedback on this being confusing is good to pass on., John Mueller on X
- If you have older reports that are still helpful, you’ll just need to click the View “button” and access ones you want to remain active., AdsLiaison on X
- The way I see this is more that there are things which can be recognized & ignored, but a site might still be appropriate to show (I don’t know this site/query). Folks get bad SEO advice, and if that can be neutralized granularly without broader effects, , John Mueller on X
Search Engine Land Stories:
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
Industry & Business
Links & Content Marketing
Local & Maps
Mobile & Voice
SEO
PPC
Search Features
Other Search
Feedback:
Have feedback on this daily recap; let me know on Twitter @rustybrick or @seroundtable, on Threads, Mastodon and Bluesky and you can follow us on Facebook and on Google News and make sure to subscribe to the YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or just contact us the old fashion way.
-
PPC4 days ago
19 Best SEO Tools in 2024 (For Every Use Case)
-
PPC7 days ago
4 New Google Ads Performance Max Updates: What You Need to Know
-
SEO6 days ago
Google Clarifies Vacation Rental Structured Data
-
MARKETING6 days ago
Will Google Buy HubSpot? | Content Marketing Institute
-
SEARCHENGINES6 days ago
Daily Search Forum Recap: April 16, 2024
-
PPC7 days ago
Share Of Voice: Why Is It Important?
-
PPC6 days ago
How to Collect & Use Customer Data the Right (& Ethical) Way
-
MARKETING5 days ago
Streamlining Processes for Increased Efficiency and Results